A letter from a reader

At 62, I finally found a present my cat-mad sister actually loved

My sister Jean has had cats for as long as I can remember, and every birthday for about twenty years I have dreaded buying her a present.

Everything with a cat on it is either twee or silly. She has the mugs, the tea towels, the fridge magnets and a doorstop shaped like a sleeping tabby. Every year I would stand in a gift shop picking things up and putting them down again, and every year I came home with something she was far too polite to say she did not need.

I thought a present for a cat lover had to be either a novelty or a fortune. So I chose the novelty, every single year.

So I gave up. Last Christmas I put a voucher in a card and told myself that was what she really wanted.

Then I saw one at a friend's house

I went round to my friend Pat's for coffee in August, and there on her mantelpiece was a little cat head, dark and glossy, with a pair of green eyes that followed me across the room. I actually picked it up. Pat told me it was the Gato, from Nottingham Boutique, a little boutique that has been quietly looking after women our age for a few years now. I thought of Jean straight away, and I ordered one that evening.

What happened at Jean's birthday tea

Jean unwrapped it at her birthday tea on Saturday, went quiet for a moment, and then said, oh, I love it. Not the polite voice. The real one. Before the cake was cut, three different women had picked it up and asked me where on earth I had found it, and my friend Sue told me I had clearly made an effort this year, which I have decided to take as a compliment.

I drove home thinking about it, and by the time I had put the kettle on I had ordered one for myself.

Three things I have learned since

One. It is not twee. It has a glossy dark marble-look finish with fine veining and those big green glass-look eyes, so it looks like a proper ornament rather than a novelty. Jean put hers straight in pride of place.

Two. It is just the right size. It sits in your two cupped hands, so it fits on a bookshelf, a windowsill, a desk or a side table without taking over. Mine lives between my old books and a little plant.

Three. It suits any room. Jean's house is all modern and white, and mine is old books and cushions, and it looks just as at home in both. When the light comes through the window those eyes catch it, and it makes me smile every time I walk past.

About the price

When I saw the price I was suspicious. Something that looks like it came from a smart gallery shop, I assumed, would either cost a small fortune or look cheap the moment you took it out of the box.

The Gato is £24.95. It was £50.

There is no catch. They have their autumn sale on, delivery is free, and it arrived well packed and looking exactly as it did in the pictures.

I did go and read the reviews before I ordered a second one. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars. Not the suspiciously perfect five you see on some sites, which if I am honest made me trust it more. One woman had written, "I bought it for my mum, who adores cats, and ended up buying one for myself. Everybody who visits picks it up." That was the one that decided it for me.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If you came round and we sat out on the porch with a cup of tea, this is what I would tell you.

Stop buying the cat lover in your life another mug. Buy her something she will put in pride of place, and while you are at it, buy one for yourself. With Christmas not so far off, I have a feeling a few more of these will be going under trees in our family.

It does not look like something from a seaside gift shop, and it does not look like it cost the earth either.

Caroline